How the Tuskegee Airmen Emerged as Symbol of Resistance Against Trump’s DEI Rollback

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell called on the U.S. Air Force to reinstate a training video, saying “the Tuskegee Airmen bravely fought and died for our freedom before this nation even granted them full benefits of citizenship.” (File)

By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times

Numerous leaders and institutions in Alabama — including The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI), a non-partisan, non-political institution, and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell — are expressing alarm as President Donald Trump rolls back Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

That includes removing a Tuskegee Airmen history video from the Air Force instruction curriculum, which was later reversed after widespread criticism. Many fear the move against the Tuskegee Airmen may become part of a trend but also shows what can happen when “collective” voices are heard.

Rep. Terri Sewell

On Wednesday, those voices were again heard. Trump’s budget office rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal loans and grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country.

The about-face was the latest sign of what can happen when voices are heard, say leaders.

“We cannot remain silent over President Donald Trump’s reversal of President Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 Executive Order that promoted equal opportunity for people of color and women in federal contractors’ recruitment, hiring, training and other employment practices,” wrote Rosilyn Houston, Chair, BCRI Board of Directors, in a statement on Sunday. “This is merely the latest shock wave in the relentless rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the federal and state levels as well as in the private sector.”

On Saturday, Sewell called on the U.S. Air Force to reinstate the video, saying “the Tuskegee Airmen bravely fought and died for our freedom before this nation even granted them full benefits of citizenship,” said Sewell. “To strip them from the Air Force curriculum is an outrageous betrayal of our values as Americans. Their heroism is not ‘DEI.’ It is American history. I’m calling on the Air Force to immediately reverse this decision. We will not let our history be erased.”

One day later, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the removal of Tuskegee Airmen videos about the Tuskegee Airmen from its military instruction curriculum “has been immediately reversed.”

“While I am relieved that our collective calls have forced the Trump Administration to reverse course, the removal of the Tuskegee Airmen from the Air Force curriculum should have never happened in the first place,” Sewell said. “We should all see the Trump Administration’s attacks on DEI for what they really are — an attempt to whitewash our history and devalue the contributions of African Americans.”

Trump, during his inaugural address on Jan. 20, vowed to end federal DEI practices, which he alleges are the government’s efforts to “socially engineer race and gender” into public and private lives. He then signed an executive order aimed at dismantling federal DEI programs.

The decision drew immediate outrage from many groups.

“We stand with federal employees and those in the private sector threatened by this executive order which poses a threat to civil rights and equal opportunity in the workplace for all,” wrote Houston. “There are livelihoods at stake with people on the cusp of losing their jobs, just because the jobs are just. We call on President Trump, the U.S. government, all state governments, and the American private sector to stop the attacks on DEI so that all people can have an opportunity to pursue the American dream.”

In 2007, President George W. Bush awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda.

All of the nearly 1,000 Black military pilots who trained in the U.S. during World War II did so in Tuskegee, a city of about 8,700 residents today that is 87 percent Black.

Mark Brown, president and CEO at Tuskegee University, also said “the story of the Tuskegee Airmen is not one of diversity and inclusion rather it’s an American story of the evolution of Air Power and inclusion of all available talent.”

Brown, who spent 32 years in the Air Force culminating as the Deputy Commander of Air Education and Training Command, added, “the Tuskegee Airmen story is truly an American story. Collectively, these experiences help build the world’s greatest Air Force.”

The history video, which describes the exploits of the groundbreaking Black airmen trained in Tuskegee during World War II, was part of a DEI-related course taken during basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, a hub of Air Force training.